Spiritual guidance is the art of soul friending with a person or group. Compassionate listening leads to discerned action in response to your inner aliveness, and the movements of spirit that some name God.
Spiritual direction, or guidance, or accompaniment, or soul-friending, is time to listen and focus upon your inner aliveness and life particularities, yearnings, sorrows, and joys. Spiritual direction is an ancient art that many spiritual traditions have practiced for thousands of years.
Ponder…
- What makes you come alive?
- Is there a part of you that grieves, seeks healing & wholeness?
- Are you discerning a work transition? Move? Relationship? Inner prompting?
- How’s your prayer life? Do you want to learn to meditate or pray? How is your prayer life changing?
- What is your contemplative practice … where do you seek silence, stillness, a pause?
- Where do you want to engage and volunteer your service to others?
- What’s on your mind and heart today? …
A soul friend is present to you with compassion, and can be a mirror for you to discover what you did not know you already knew!
About spiritual direction…
Within every person or group there is an energy or spirit at work that vitalizes or drains. Spiritual direction pays attention to the movement of this spirit. Spiritual direction is not intended to be or to replace professional counseling or psychotherapy.
Spiritual direction or guidance can occur individually or with a group. Generally a person meets with a spiritual director once a month, for approximately an hour. Group spiritual direction can last for a longer time period.
A spiritual direction relationship can last for months, or even years.
Spiritual direction is a relationship of care and accompaniment that helps to recognize the Spirit of God alive in the now and here of living–the present moment–even if God is rarely named. Spiritual guidance helps people attune to significance, meaning, and possibility. Spiritual direction offers the potential for healing and transformation in order to live a vibrant life of integrity, dignity, and transparency.
Spiritual direction is a gift and needs to be available to every person, from any place, religion, nation, gender, or socioeconomic background.
Some spiritual directors charge a professional fee, others accept free-will offerings, and others make themselves available to whoever calls or arrives at their door.
An excellent spiritual director could be male or female, ordained, religious, or an ordinary person living down the street from you.
If you are seeking a spiritual guide you will want to ask a potential spiritual director or guide questions in an initial interview meeting, and prayerfully consider your own intentions and desire, at this particular time in your life.
Good questions for you to consider are available at the Spiritual Directors International website, http://www.sdiworld.org.
Pegge offers spiritual guidance in person, and via telephone or skype. Email Pegge.
Videos
“SDI Learns From…” free video series (Pegge is the editor of more than 90 videos in this series.) Learn about the value and benefits found in spiritual direction and contemplative practice from wise, diverse leaders and teachers in the global learning community of Spiritual Directors International.
How to Seek and Find a Spiritual Director, step by step with Pegge Erkeneff